Process of manufacturing stock food.



` 0. SHEPPARB, Jn. PRocEss 0F MANUFACTURING sTocK F000.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20. 1916.v

1,1 99,621. .Patented Sept. 26,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

O.A SHEPPARD, In. PROCESS 0F MANUFACTURING STOCK FOOD..

APPLICATION FILED APR- 20 1916.

To all whom t mag/.concern Be .it known that-I, ORLANDO SHEPPARD,

J r., a citizen of the United/States, residing atAshburn, in the county of Turner and State of Georgia, have .invented new andv vuseful Improvements in Processes of` Manufacturing'St-ock Food, of which the following .is a specification.

This invention relates to a vprocess for manufacturing stock foodyproposing a process which is more especially applicable for the production of a food composed of a carbo-hydrate supplying bran and a protein supplying meal which is preferably applied to the treatment of cotton seed products.

The invention has for its IprincipalV object tol produce a stock food of the character stated wherein the mixture will not only be proportioned to. provide a balanced ration, but will be in such a form that neither .of its constituents can be rejected', in feeding, accidentally or otherwise, in favor of the other constituent; to produce /a stock food in which the cotton seed hull bran is in the most palatable and mostldigestible form;

and to provide a processwhich can be prac.

tised continuously and inexpensively and which will insure of al thorough blending and a correct proportioning of the constituents in a product which, in lightness, .compares favorably with forage, and, inform, is permanently homogeneous.

Brieystated, the process preferablycon# sists in thoroughly mixing relatively'c'oarse bran, preferably obtained from the hulls of cotton seed, vwith a' meal, preferably cotton seed meal, but, in any event, a meal which will supply the proper proportion of protein and will have an ainity for the bran, in certain denite and predetermined proportions and in formingthe mixture into relatively light and coarse akes in which the bran and the cotton seedvmeal are matted together and are permanently adherent.- In the production of a food in which cotton seed hull bran isan ingredient, the' process includes as an initial or preliminary step the treatment of the hull to substantially free it from cotton berand-as a subsequent step the formation of the hull'into akes, preferably with the addition of a meal of the character stated. I

lAn apparatus for practisingthe process is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view;

.I Specicaton of Letters Ilatent.`

' Pnocnss or MANUFACTUMNG srocx Foon.

seed huller, being a product which is similar to .the moss of mote and ber obtained from* a .cotton seed linter. Itis impartant'tha't 65 the-bran should besubstantially free from ber or-lint. For this purpose, the raw material is preferably treated in a series of attrition mills 1- which, in conjunction `With d theirappurtenances, effect va thorough separation of the ber andthe hull anda -com.-". f plete recovery .of the hull and reduce the hull to coarsev bran., Anydesired number of attrition mills may beemployed, but good i results have been obtained with a gang com-` .75 posed of four of .'such mills. AEach mill 1. delivers its ground product into a separator 2,'preferably a vibratory shaker. The. bran falls through the separators '2 into a bran conveyer 3 which is common to theI mills. 'SQv y The ber from the shakers, together with ,unseparated bran adhering thereto, passes i'nto ber conveyers 4, one for each mill. From the `ber conveyers 4 the material is carried, preferably vby drag conveyers 5, to

4auxiliary separators 6, of' which there is one foreach. mill. Theseparators 6 `are preferably of the well lgnown centrifugal type and comprise-an uter cylindrical shell 7, an inner cylindrical screen 8 and a rotary' 90' beater 9 working in the screen 8. The bran is forcedthrough the screen 8 into the'outer shell I7, from which it is returned to the( bran conveyer..3 in any suitable manner, le. g., by a spout or chute 7a. The 4ber from- 9 5 theV auxiliary separator 6 of the last mill is y delivered into any suitable receptacle and is ready for `any commercial applications forwhich it may be adapted. The ber from each of the remaining separators is '100 conducted from the screen 8 by any suiti substantially free from all particles of hull.`

To insure of the lcomplete or substantially complete elimination of ber, it is preferred to treat the bran in a winnower or equivalent machine 10 to which the bran is carried Patented Sept. 26,1916? Application mea Apii 20, 191s. summum-,544. l

TED 'STATES' ORLANDO SHEPPARD, Jn., oF ASHBURN, GEORGIA.

from the conveyer 3 by any suitable means. As a matter of convenience, the conveyer 3 consists of a pair of oppositely directed screws arranged in tandem and has a centrally located bran discharge by which the bran is passed to the conveyer for transporting it to the winnower 10. In the winnower any particles of fiber which may escapethe action vof the separators 2 and 6 and which, of necessity, will be very minute and light, are finally separated, the bran as it `issues from the winnower being substantially free from liber 4and ready for .use as a constituent of the food. The bran from the winnower 10 is mixed with the meal, preferably cotton seed meal, which I have found to have a pronounced aflinity for cotton seed hull bran and, therefore, especially adaptable for food of the character noted. The apparatus for mixing the bran andthe meal` includes a bran hopper 11 and a meal hop-l per 12, the bran being conveyed from the winnower 10 to the hopper 11 by a conveyer 13 of any suitable construction. The hoppers 11 and 12 discharge into a receptacle which forms an element -of a mixer 14 by which a thorough and uniformblending of the bran and the meal is effected.

It is important that the mixture from which the food-is to be prepared should have its constituentscorrectly proportioned `to provide a balanced ration suitable Yfor particular conditions or particular kinds of stock. For cattle, the ration may advantageously contain one part by weight of protein for six parts by weight of carbohydrates, and in such case there will be seven pounds of bran to every three pounds of meal. To insure the correct proportioning of the constituents of the mixture, a regulating feed'device 15 of any suitable construction 1 is interposed between each of the hoppers l 11 and 12 and the mixer 14. The feed regulators -15 may be adjusted to cause the ma- 4a terial from each hopper to flow at a predetermihed rate into the mixer 14 and thus to provide for any desired proportioning of the constituentsof the mixture. From the mixer 14 the dry mash is carried to a mash hopper 16. As a'matter of convenience, the

mixer 14 may have the form of an ordinary .spiral conveyer or of a spiral conveyer with a cut flight, z'. e., with its screw cut away at regular intervals, to facilitate the mixing of the ingredients, v.and in such a case, the mixer will constitute an element of the conveyer fortransporting mash to the hopper 16. AFrom the hopper 16, the mash is passed to a pair or series of rolls 17 which are constructed and arranged to form the mash, when fed thereto at a correct rate, into i flakes. A feed regulator 18 lof any suitable construction is arranged between the hopper 16 and the rolls 17 for the purpose of insurmg that'the mash shall be. passed to said rolls at the rate necessary to insure its flaking. The product which issues from the -rolls 17 consists of relatively coarse flakes, light in weight, and in which the bran and meal are matted together and have permanent adherence. These flakes will be thin and flat and will range in size, from a quarter of an inch square to an inch square, more lor less. However, the flakes, regardless of their size, `will be dry magmas of meal and bran and the food, composed of such flakes, will, therefore, be homogeneous. In some cases, it may bedesirable to have the flakes of very large size, say two or three inches square. This result can be obtained by introducin-g steam at a relatively low temperature into the conveyer-mixer 14, the steam being supplied by a pipe 19. It may also be desired. in some cases, to incorporate molasses into the food for the sake of its laxative properties and also to increase the percentage of carbohydrates. For this purpose, a molasses pipe 20 having a controlling valve 21 and leadin from a tank 22 may be arranged to pro]ect for some distance into the steam pipe 19. The valve 21 will be arranged to provide for a dribbling flow of the molasses from the pipe 20 and the molasses thus dropping into the pipe 19 will be taken up by or into solution with the steam delivered into the mixer 14. The molasses is, however, not necessary as a binder for the constituents of the flakes.v Inv some cases, it may be desired to have the flakes composed ofcotton seed hull bran without tised as above described, with or without the addition of molasses, but with the meal l omitted. The flakes are very light, thin, and lpalatable but are considerably smaller i@ area than the flakes wherein the bran and the meal are matted together.

I claim- 1. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in thoroughly mixing relatively coarse bran and meal having a physical affinity for one another and in rollingxthe mixture into the form of light' thin flakes Iwherein each flake is a dry magma -or mat of the bran and meal.

2. A process for manufacturingstock food which consists in feeding relatively coarse bran and meal ata predeterminately proportioned rate into a common receptacle, in thoroughly mixing the bran and meal in said receptacle, `in continuously conveying the mixture to a rolling medium and feeding the mixture to said medium at a predetermined rate and in continuously rolling the mixture into the form of light thin flakes wherein each flake is a dry magma or mat of the bran and meal.

3. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in treating cotton seed hull to reduce it to coarse bran andlin separating liber therefrom, in thoroughly mixing the coarse bran with cotton seed meal, and in rolling the mixture into the form' of light thin Hakes wherein each Hake is a dry magma or mat of the bran and meal.

4. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in feeding relatively coarse bran and meal l.at predeterminately proportioned rates into a common receptacle, and thoroughly mixing the branand meal in said receptacle, in continuously conveyingv the mixture to a rolling medium and feeding the mixture to said medium at a predetermined rate, in injecting steam into the mixture during its transfer to the rolling medium,

and in continuously rolling the mixtureinto the form of light thin flakes wherein each Hake is a dry magma or mat of the bran and meal. f

5. A process for manufacturing stock food l which consists in treating cotton seed hull to reduce it to coarse bran and in separating fiber therefrom, in thoroughly mixing the coarse bran with cotton seed meal, in continuously conveying the mixture to arolling medium and feeding the mixture to .said medium at a predetermined rate, and in continuously rolling the mixture into the form of light thin Hakes wherein each Hake is a dry magma or mat of the bran and meal.

6. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in thoroughly mixing rela- Hakes wherein each Hake is a dry magma or mat of the bran and meal.

7. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in thoroughly mixing coarse lbran and meal having a. physical affinity therefor, in introducing steam saturated with molasses into the mixture and in rolling the mixture into the form of light thin Hakes wherein each Hake is a dry magma or mat of the bran and meal.

8. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in treating cotton seed hull to free it from lint and in forming the hull from which all lint has been separated into light thin Hakes.

9. A process for manufacturing stock food which consists in treating cotton seed hull to free it from lint, thereafter in adding molasses and finally in forming the hull into light thin Hakes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in` presence of two subscribing witnesses.

oRLANDo SHEPPARD', JR.

Witnesses: y CHAs. S. HIER, JOHNS POWERS. 

